November brought my favorite visitor to Colorado, my Mom. She’s one of Colorado’s biggest fans, maybe even more so than me although that’s a pretty high bar. Over the years, we’ve made many day-trips out into the mountains. This time, however, I decided to schedule a two day Colorado roadtrip that included a visit to the Great Sand Dunes. It turned out to be a great time!
Two Day Colorado Roadtrip Planning – Great Sand Dunes
For those of you that read my posts regularly (yes, all one or two of you), you know I’m a dedicated planner. As usual, I fired up my Road Trip Planner app and got to work.
My initial plan was to head through Leadville so I could show Mom the 14ers Tanya and I had climbed. From there, head through Buena Vista on our way to Salida for lunch. Monarch Pass is always a good stop, so I threw that in there as well. If we took our time, we’d end up in Alamosa for a night, and then have the next day to explore the Great Sand Dunes and head home, possibly with a stop to Garden of the Gods.
The best thing about the planning software is how it builds out your route with arrival/departure times. I found this helpful to make sure our day wasn’t overloaded and we’d get to make all the stops we wanted. The final route looked good and yes, the plan was overkill. Still, you gotta get your geek on somehow.
Two Day Colorado Roadtrip – Day 1
Mom and I weren’t in any big rush, so we started our first day getting out the door around 9:00AM. It’s important, after all, to have coffee and catch up first thing in the morning. Ahhh, the life of retirees. 🙂
The drive out to Copper Mountain’s exit was pretty uneventful. We’d left on a Monday so traffic was minimal. We took exit 195 and headed up SH-91 towards Leadville. Shortly after our exit, we needed to get out and enjoy some fresh air. The weather was absolutely amazing for early November.
We found a trailhead parking lot and continued down the 4WD road for about .25 miles. This gave a chance for a pic showing Mom walking in the snow. We then headed south another .5 miles up the road and stopped by Clinton Gulch Reservoir for a few more pictures.
Views near Leadville
Continuing down 91, we passed through Leadville and then made a stop at a pullout. Mt. Elbert and Mt. Massive were in view along with the Arkansas River. These are must see parts of Colorado. Luckily Mom let me off the hook of having to climb either of the mountains that day. She knew I hadn’t been training and would leave me in the dust as she scampered up the mountain. Thanks Mom!
South of here, we passed through Buena Vista and Johnsons Corner. By chance, I remembered the St. Elmo “ghost town” out this way and asked Mom if she’d like to see it. She said yes just in time to make the turn. We headed west on 162 towards Mt. Princeton Hot Springs. Shortly after we turned off, we were lucky to catch a glimpse of one of my favorite animals, Colorado pronghorns.
With those pics under our belt, we continued up the road towards St. Elmo. I bored Mom with stories of camping outings, landing trout at Chalk Lake, and getting caught in a rock slide at Agnes Vaille Waterfall. She was kind enough to put up with the stories. The Chalk Creek cascades were, as expected for November, very low and not nearly as impressive as in June. We put the windows down and enjoyed the sound of Chalk Creek as we drove along.
St. Elmo Ghost Town
The town of St. Elmo wasn’t too busy. During the summer there can be lots of people stopping by the shop there. Everything is closed in November, however, so we walked around and bit, capturing a few shots. We noticed another visitor staring up at a second story window. She saw us looking at her and explained she thought she saw a ghost, but it turned out to be a mannequin. Well, that’s what we told ourselves anyway…yeah, it’s a mannequin.
Salida
The St. Elmo side trip was a nice addition to our outing. We got back on 91 and went into Salida. At least 10 years had passed since I’d been to Salida. It was good to see it’s still a thriving community. The downtown area is bustling with restaurants and shops. We picked Sweetie’s Sandwich Shop for lunch and what a great pick that turned out to be. They had amazing food and quick service. It’s clear to see how they’ve earned such a high rating on Yelp!
Monarch Pass
With our tummies full, we continued on our planned path to go up Monarch Pass via route 50. The day got a little cloudy so we weren’t sure if we’d get snow near the pass or not. It turned out to be just a few flurries although it was windy and cool at the pass. We were hoping we could take the gondola up to the higher elevation. It only runs from May 15 – September 15, so we just missed it. We popped in the shop where Mom picked up a hat from the bargain cave. The store had a picture for sale that showed all the 14ers in the state. I bored Mom with more stories about the ones I still wanted to hike. Once again she showed patience in listening to me ramble. We passed on the fudge and headed out.
Overnight at Alamosa
We headed back to 285 and continued south to Alamosa. The drive over Poncha Pass was gorgeous and then we headed into the San Luis Valley. While the valley isn’t the prettiest part of Colorado, the views of the Sangre de Cristo Range are impressive. I don’t know why I haven’t explored more of this range. These 14ers and surrounding range need to be on my list for 2022!
Two Day Colorado Roadtrip – Day 2
The night in Alamosa was uneventful. We were rested up and ready for Great Sand Dunes National Park! First, however, we had to enjoy the breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express. One of us had two of the cinnamon rolls. Since Mom keeps her sugar intake low it probably wasn’t her.
It’s a short drive to the park from Alamosa so we made it there shortly before 10:00. Once again we had great weather with a few clouds and nice temps. The road going into the park from the south has some of the most iconic views of the park. We stopped and snapped a shot, and then continued on our way.
Great Sand Dunes National Park
Once in the park, we headed directly to the dunes. It’s still amazing to me how these huge sand dunes are here in the middle of the mountains. It’s one of the most fascinating sites to take in. We hiked out to the base of the dunes and soaked in the view. The silence, views and company made for a very special moment.
Mom, up for an adventure?
As we were walking back to the Jeep, I proposed an alternative route to Mom. Originally we’d planned on heading back to the highway and taking route 160 east to I-25 for our return. Instead, we could take the Medano Pass primitive road. I should’ve known Mom would be all over that one. So long highway, hello sand, stream crossings and a bucking bronco ride!
The initial sections are mainly sand and clearance challenges. The Jeep didn’t have any issues with those although the driver always gets a little nervous 4-wheeling in sand. It wasn’t long until we did the first of the 9 stream crossings. Once all that was under our belt, the rest was easy sailing…with plenty of bumps. Around mile 3 (totally guessing on the distance), we came upon a bighorn sheep ram. He was a healthy looking ram who wasn’t too bothered by us at all. What luck we were having on this trip!
After a while, we left the bighorn to continue his day grazing and continued on our way. The road involved several more stream crossings and bumps, and the views were a nice plus! Mom really enjoyed the rock formations. I tried to keep my eyes on the road…most of the time anyway. Eventually we came out to an open meadow just below the pass. We got out and walked around soaking in more views. Once over the pass, the road becomes a typical dirt road and links up with SH-69.
Heading home on smoother road
Once on SH-69, we headed north and linked up with SH-50. This took us east through gorgeous canyons along the Arkansas River. We stopped shortly after Pinnacle Rock and took some pictures. From there, we went up 115 to Colorado Springs. While we did stop at Garden of the Gods, it wasn’t as impressive as what we’d been through earlier in the day. Still, it is a beautiful spot, just not quite the same after being in the middle of the mountains on a 4WD road.
We had so much fun on this short trip. The final route we took is shown below. Thanks for being such a great travel partner Mom!
